Lifeboat Foundation

If you want to use one of today’s major VR headsets, whether the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, or the PS VR, you have to accept the fact that there will be an illusion-shattering cable that tethers you to the small supercomputer that’s powering your virtual world.

But researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) may have a solution in MoVr, a wireless virtual reality system. Instead of using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to transmit data, the research team’s MoVR system uses high-frequency millimeter wave radio to stream data from a computer to a headset wirelessly at dramatically faster speeds than traditional technology.

There have been a variety of approaches to solving this problem already. Smartphone-based headsets such as Google’s Daydream View and Samsung’s Gear VR allow for untethered VR by simply offloading the computational work directly to a phone inside the headset. Or the entire idea of VR backpacks, which allow for a more mobile VR experience by building a computer that’s more easily carried. But there are still a lot of limitations to either of these solutions.

Continue reading “MIT’s new method of radio transmission could one day make wireless VR a reality” »

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A video of a chimpanzee ‘playing in virtual reality’ has garnered mixed reactions across the internet as viewers remain torn on whether it is harmless fun, or if it edges on animal cruelty.

In the video, the chimpanzee named Sugriva can be seen wearing an HTC Vive headset and swatting at the air as he follows objects on the screen – an experience many humans can relate to.

Continue reading “Bizarre video emerges of a chimp trying VR and trying to grab objects” »

BOSTON (CBS) – It’s expected to be the hot holiday gift of the season: virtual reality headsets. We know it’s a cool new experience but there’s still a lot we don’t know about the technology, especially when it comes to kids.

The headset completely immerses users in a new 3D virtual world. “I felt like I was actually there.” said one first-time user. “There’s no age limit to this,” said another virtual reality fan.

But there actually is an age limit. Many of the top selling brands warn against kids using the device. Oculus Rift and Samsung VR Gear say it’s not for kids under 13. Sony PlayStation is recommended for kids 12 and up. And the HTC Vive is less specific, just saying it’s not for young children.

Continue reading “Virtual Reality Headsets Concern Doctors” »

In Brief:

• Computing pioneer, Vinod Khosla, envisions a future where Artificial Intelligence will take over 80 percent of IT jobs.
• IT guys are not the only white collar professionals who Khosla sees as replaceable by VR they also join doctors, lawyers, and accountants on the growing list.

Short proof-of-concept Sundays video is getting a feature film thanks to Warner Bros. Wonderful, we’ve had a real dearth of virtual reality, “this isn’t real”, Matrix-like features. If that’s what this short film is actually about???

Once synbio computing is fully matured then our tech dev work maybe done.

By Frances Van Scoy, West Virginia University.

Continue reading “Moving toward computing at the speed of thought” »

“According to the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs about 11 out of every 100 veterans who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom have PTSD in a given year as well as about 12 out of every 100 veterans who served in Desert Storm.”

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“The big-screen cinema company said Thursday that it and several partner companies created a $50 million investment fund focused on virtual reality media projects like films and video games.”

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